Season’s first snowfall dusts Spokane, causes car accidents

For about two hours Friday, Spokane had its first taste of winter. National Weather Service meteorologist Rocco Pelatti said the afternoon snowfall caused a few accidents, including a semitruck that jackknifed on Bigelow Gulch Road.

Washington State Patrol spokesman Jeff Sevigney said the snow caused a few slide-offs in Spokane County and Coeur d’Alene.

“We haven’t had anything serious,” he said. “Just a few slide-offs. They’ve been scattered about.”

Sevigney also warned about ice forming during the night’s freezing temperatures.

“With temps continuing to fall as we move into the evening it will become icy,” he wrote on Twitter.

Pelatti said a little less than an inch accumulated overall in the two hours of snowfall, but not a lot of snow stuck to the ground.

“The pavement temperatures have been warm enough to melt a good quantity of it,” Pelatti said.

Pelatti said two days of early-morning and late-night fog will follow, and the next chance for precipitation is on Thursday of next week.